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Vertical Lists, Bullets

Q. I’ve read 6.124–6.126 about vertical lists, but I’m still
confused about how to punctuate a long vertical list that completes an introductory statement without punctuating it as one
terribly long sentence.

A. You have found that CMOS would punctuate your list as a long sentence (6.125). If that doesn’t work for you, rewrite your introductory
statement to make it grammatically complete and follow the examples in 6.124.

Q. I am a course designer for a university, and I always have a difficult time figuring out how to handle punctuation and capitalization
in multiple-choice questions. Do I capitalize the first letter of each choice? Do I add a period at the end of each choice?
Does the rule change if it is a question rather than a statement?

Q. In a list of bulleted points where some are complete sentences and some are not, do you put a period at the end of a sentence,
but not the list, or periods after all bulleted points, or none at all?

A. I’m afraid you won’t like my answer: this situation is not covered in CMOS because in a list of bulleted points all the items should be styled with the same syntax, either sentences or sentence fragments.

Q. What position does Chicago take on numbered lists within sentences? I’m editing a document in which
the author frequently sets apart elements of a series with (1), (2), and (3). The enumeration rarely indicates a progression,
and it is used in short and long sentences, even when only two elements of a series are listed. I think this practice is burdensome
to the reader in many cases and makes the document appear too technical, but haven’t found anything
to support my claim.

A. If there are so many of these that they begin to look silly or distracting, I would edit them out. Gently point out to the
writer that although such numbering is useful in complex enumerations, his or her writing is clear enough without the crutch.

Q. I am editing a manuscript that will become a book. It is a type of instructional manual, but more informational than instructional.
The writer is inconsistent with the use of bullets and numbers. Should a list be numbered only if the material is to be used
as a guideline for a consecutive order of information? Should bullets be used simply as an outline of information in no particular
order?

A. Various syntaxes work well (sentences, fragments, questions), but when the items are parallel in syntax, it creates an order
and logic that helps readers take in information more easily than a mixture of constructions. Parallel doesn’t
mean identical, however. If your items are complex, it may not be practical to match them word for word with parallel parts
of speech. On the other hand, in a simple construction, close imitation is usually easy and effective. (If your first two
items are “Stop” and “Drop,” you aren’t
going to follow with “How to roll around when you’re on fire.”)

Q. Two colleagues and I are disagreeing at work about the formatting of the text above vertical lists. The introductory element
is often a few words, and it is usually not a complete grammatical sentence, yet we end the introductory element with a colon.
One woman declared that this was wrong and that we should fix thousands of screens in hundreds of lessons by either rewriting
the introductory element as a complete sentence or removing the colon. What do you think?

A. In new text, I would edit as your colleague suggests, but since it sounds like a costly and time-consuming process for you
to change the ones you already have in place, you might compromise by replacing the offending intros only as you add new lessons
or revise old ones.

Q. Is it ever okay to start a list with a sentence ending in a period instead of a colon? (“To determine
the answer, use the following concepts.”) Does it matter if the list is set off by bullets or that the
typesetting is different (by color or font, etc.)? What is the preferred method if both ways are correct? What if it is not
a complete sentence? I appreciate the response. Me and a fellow copy editor are at odds.

A. Chicago’s preference is to use a colon, but there are times when a period might better serve. Please
see CMOS for details on how to punctuate vertical lists and for examples that include sentences and sentence fragments. If you use
a period, the list items should begin with capital letters. (P.S. I am averting my eyes from “Me and
a fellow copy editor are at odds”—please tell me that this is just your fun e-mail-writing
style, or if it isn’t, that you aren’t editing anything important to our national
security.)

Q. I do not believe it makes sense to use a bulleted list of one item. If it is just one item, should it not simply be a paragraph?
At the end of many of our sections in an advocacy guide we have “Advocacy Reminders.”
Sometimes there are many; sometimes there is only one reminder. It seems to me if there is one reminder it should be a paragraph.

A. Although logically a list should have more than one item, bullets are more forgiving, especially if throughout a book like
yours, reminders are formatted in a special section the same way in every chapter. The visual cue of the identical formatting
would override a quibble about the logic of a single bullet point. Your bullets can be considered more like decorations than
hierarchy markers.